The Union Cougars will challenge the North Sanpete Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Union is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 50 points last Thursday, they were much more limited against Grantsville on Wednesday. They were beaten by the Cowboys 43-7. The contest marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Even if they lost, Union's defensive line still kept up the pressure with four sacks. Rhyker Oakden was especially locked on to Grantsville's QB and sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, North Sanpete hadn't done well against Juab recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Hawks strolled past the Wasps with points to spare, taking the game 30-16. The Hawks pushed the score to 20-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wasps cut but never quite recovered from.
Union better keep an eye on Ayden Akee. He was instrumental in North Sanpete's win, rushing for 174 yards and three TDs. Those 174 rushing yards gave Akee a new career-high.
North Sanpete was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 211 rushing yards. They are a perfect 4-0 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
North Sanpete pushed their record up to 6-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 11.8 points on average over those games. As for Union, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost four of their last five games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-6 record this season.
Union took a serious blow against North Sanpete in their previous meeting back in October of 2020, falling 41-14. Thankfully for the Cougars, Brady Jacobson (who picked up 76 receiving yards and one score, and also threw for 14 yards and one touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps